Discussion Board Question: Points of Distribution (POD) can be extremely beneficial in disaster situations. They can also create concerns during an operation in regards to transporting supplies, safety, security and finding an optimum site for establishing a POD. Pick one area, either beneficial or detrimental; briefly explain how that would affect a disaster operation, and how you would improve upon the process. View this video to get a better understanding of POD's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXw1IROwz_s Student 1 post: POD provides a place to the public where emergency supplies are picked following a disaster. when there is a decrease in infrastructure to guarantee the normal distribution of food the POD applied it. POD comes in. Usually, PODs operate until the disaster is taken care of and power. The response team helps in the protection and salvage of the citizens’ possessions that have been ravaged by disaster. (Fikar, Gronalt, & Hirsch, 2016). However, to find an optimum side for the establishment of a POD is crucial to the success of disaster recovery. To ensure the establishment of a smooth-running POD, it is important to identify potential locations. Locations selected should be based on the population density of the area. A POD that takes advantage of a developed and a coordinated effort will ensure that disaster is handled efficiently (Rennemo et al., 2014). References Fikar, C., Gronalt, M., & Hirsch, P. (2016). A decision support system for coordinated disaster relief distribution. Expert Systems with Applications, 57, 104-116. Rennemo, S. J., Rø, K. F., Hvattum, L. M., & Tirado, G. (2014). A three-stage stochastic facility routing model for disaster response planning. Transportation research part E: logistics and transportation review, 62, 116-135 Student 2 post: Detrimental points of distribution (POD) adversely affect an entire disaster operation process. The application of a type III POD to manage disaster in a metropolitan city can be disastrous. The type III POD would serve only 5,000 people per day based on one vehicle representing a family of three people (Jaller & Holguín-Veras, 2012). Similarly, type III POD requires a staff of only 19 during the day and four during the night, it covers 150feet by 300feet space, and it has just three loading points with just one vehicle lane. Notably, a metropolitan city is densely populated, and the application of this POD to distribute critical emergency supplies such as food and water during the management of a disaster would increase disaster vulnerability. Therefore, the distribution centers would not meet the needs of residents due to understaffing in terms of assistance personnel, supply line, loading line and the vehicle line. The distribution centers would also be too small to accommodate an adequate emergency supplies. I would recommend the use of type I PODs to enhance the efficiency of the disaster operation process. This POD would suit the metropolitan setup since it serves 20,000 people daily based on one vehicle representing a family of three (Jaller & Holguín-Veras, 2012). A type I POD requires a staff of 78 during the day and 10 in the night and a 250feet by 500feet space. Furthermore, it has four vehicle lanes and twelve loading points. Type I PODs would distribute food and water resources faster to manage the high demand for the emergency supplies. As such, the type I PODs would make the entire operation successful and efficient during a disaster management. Reference Jaller, M., & Holguín-Veras, J. (2012). Locating points of distribution in large urban disasters. Submitted to Transportation Science. Retrieved from https://www.floridadisaster.org/globalassets/importedpdfs/pod-sog-2355-final-revised-11-1616.pdf
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